Healing Waters
by theimpossiblegrrl
Summary: Another "Apprentice" story. On holiday on an isolated island, Severus come to terms with his impending fatherhood. A story of healing, love, and pregnancy related cravings. Rated M for lemons of course, language, and adult situations, EWE and a little AU. Complete.
1. I

A/N:This is what happens when you have a sick child on vacation, and you spend the mornings drinking tea and looking off the balcony at the most beautiful water you've ever seen (and you've seen a lot of blue). Will be about 15-20 thousand words, I think. Probably inspired a little by "Snape's Oceans" by Theolyn and "Post Tenebras, Lux" by Loten, kinda sorta.

(Still not mine, and no money made)

* * *

Apprentice – Healing Waters

"Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky."  
Sonia Gandhi

I.

Severus watched her from the shore. Ginny had waded out into the turquoise water far enough for her swollen belly to be partially covered by the lazy waves that didn't as much crash as they did wander up to the sand. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, vividly red and shining against the blue of the surf and the sky beyond her.

He sighed and shifted in the uncomfortable chair on the veranda. He loved to watch his wife move, even now, when her movements were slowed a little by the weight of the life growing within her.

When she first came to him, after the War and other events had taken the life from her, she walked with an elegant ease that took his breath away completely. She'd been so fragile then, and the sad thing was he knew it. Oddly enough, he'd found out about her "accident" from a guilt stricken Potter, who he had seen in passing in Diagon Alley shortly after her admission to St. Mungo's. He'd bought the idiot boy a drink at the Leaky to try to calm both of their nerves – he'd expected to hear that Potter and Ginny had gotten married. The news that Ginny had almost bled to death after cutting the inside of her arm when she received Potter and Granger's wedding invitation had infuriated him. He'd wanted to strangle the pair for their sheer stupidity for inviting her in the first place. Severus expected no less from the boy he still held little respect for, but he'd expected more out of Granger.

He spent the first few weeks with her in her Apprenticeship trying to keep from breaking her until he succumbed to his baser instincts and went back to treating her like another Potions student the day she first made Skele-Gro. He'd felt like a degenerate when he heard her cry as she ran out of the room. There was a spare knife in the dungeon, of course, but he was so annoyed that she'd come unprepared that he didn't even consider it to be an option until she was already gone.

Her anger towards him had whispered past when she all but ran out of the door. Somehow, he was attuned to her thoughts and didn't have to use Legilimency to read them. It had been the same when she was a student. He grimaced in the memory of the emotions that rolled off of her whenever he walked past her at meals, or when she was summoned to his office for disciplinary measures when he was Headmaster. Even with her face composed into a serene mask, her hate and disgust always reached him.

Following her out of the dungeons, he'd broken into a faster stride to catch up to her and apologize. When she wasn't in her office he'd flown into her rooms and found her there sitting on her little bed, bleeding from her own hand, using the knife he's scolded her into retrieving. From the looks of her beautiful legs that she kept completely covered in her second hand, over-large garments, it had been going on for years.

He'd hated himself that day.

And yet, he understood her completely. Mimicking the same movement now that he made after she rushed past him and out of her rooms, he rubbed the hidden scars on his chest.

The Cruciatus Curse had been the preferred punishment of the Dark Lord whenever he was especially displeased with any of his Death Eaters. However, in Severus's case, it had been dealt with an especially liberal hand. In the end, after he'd killed Albus and was rewarded with the position as Headmaster, he'd come to welcome it. The complete escape from reality by being so immersed in pain had been … liberating. There were times he thought he would go mad from it, was sure that he would wake up as insane as the Longbottoms. But, he always woke up from it in his own mind, thankful he hadn't had to think about what a horrible excuse for a human being he was at least for a few minutes.

He heard a sound and looked back up at Ginny. She was laughing in the water, rubbing her belly and saying words he couldn't hear to the little life within. Their daughter was a very active baby, according to Poppy, and she often woke Ginny up in the middle of the night with kicks and rolls and other movements that never ceased to make her laugh. Last night, she'd woken him up when she found a shape that looked remarkably like a foot pushing against her hand.

Against his trembling hand.

Not for the first time, he felt the burn against his eyes and fought against them.

He stood up and removed his shirt, grimacing at how thin he was. Food and eating had never been a priority to him, and since he found out he was going to be a father his worry had translated into many picked over meals and others that had just been skipped. He knew Ginny was worried about him, almost to the point where she had tried to dictate his meals as he still dictated hers. When he'd merely glared at her and instructed her to eat an extra bowl of ice cream after supper she left it alone, though her eyes still nervously watched him.

As he walked out to the shoreline, she came into better focus. The white of her bikini was startling against her freckled skin, which had tanned over the last couple of days into a golden shade that made her look healthy and rested. He, on the other hand, remained pale, though now he had a sun burn on his shoulders and cheeks despite the amount of Sun Potion he took every morning. Thinking back to his youth, he doubted his skin had ever been exposed to this much sunlight, even before he became the dungeon bat in his early twenties.

 _So much for the rumors that he was secretly a vampire._ The thought made him smirk a little despite himself.

She was even better in view now. The curse scars on her shoulder were still present and just barely the color of silver against her tanned skin, and the scars that she made from her own hurting hands were faint and flesh colored. One of the worst days of his life had been the day that she realized that her paste would not completely rid her body from the scars that haunted her. She'd cried in his arms until he thought that she would break again.

She didn't though. Ginny moved forward and made enough improvements over the years to the original formula that the scars were almost gone. It had been a breakthrough for their world that had been so physically damaged by the Wars. Too bad there wasn't a paste or potion that could remove the emotional damage.

She was so beautiful, he mused as his bare feet splashed into the water. The loveliest thing about her was her unawareness of just how bright she shone against a world that could be otherwise so dull to his eyes. Even with her scars, her temper, and her continued fears, she was the most startlingly glorious witch he had ever encountered.

He was almost to her when she turned to greet him. Her hands were still caressing her swollen middle, and she was smiling serenely.

"Hey," she said, reaching a hand out to him. He took it and waded to her side.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" he said, marveling at the expanse of sea in front of them.

"Yes," she said, squeezing his hand in hers. "It was an extravagant gift, wasn't it?"

He nodded as he continued to watch the water in front of them.

The holiday had been Minerva's idea, they'd found out. It had been funded by George, Ron, and Potter and gifted by their wives as a "babymoon", whatever that was. The people who knew them well knew that had actually never taken a trip together as a couple, not even a honeymoon after they had married. They were both so devoted to the school and happy just to be with each other that they'd never seen the point with the fuss. Now that they were here in the seclusion of the remote spot, with no other person around them for miles, he understood it. They'd always felt that they had a private paradise every day during their playtime before dinner. But to actually be away, with their sole focus on each other… it was a different kind of paradise he knew they would repeat.

"Severus?" she asked.

He looked over to her, into her eyes which were bluer and clearer than the water around them.

"Can we just stay here forever?"

He smiled at her and replied, "They'll come looking for us if we aren't back for the beginning of term."

"Damn," she said with mock grumpiness. "How much more time do we have left?"

"Around two weeks."

She nodded. "That'll be enough time."

"Time for what?"

She grinned and he felt her lust, clear and strong.

"That?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"That," she giggled.

She raised a wet hand to his face, tracing his lips with the tips of her fingers. He licked them, tasting the salt mixed with the sweet natural flavor of her skin. There was mango there as well; she must have had a craving again before she came out into the water. Intrigued, he bent down and kissed her, tasting the fruit on her lips and tongue. It was on her cheeks too, and he followed the trail of sweetness down her neck and to her chest. He sighed and licked his lips thoughtfully as he lowered the top of her bikini to bare her breasts.

The pregnancy had made her natural curves even more irresistible. Her breasts were fuller than they'd ever been now, and her nipples had darkened from a light, rosy pink to a dusky red. He brushed his thumbs over them, watching as they strained out and darkened even more, reminding him of fresh berries. He lowered his mouth and captured one in his mouth. The flavor of mango was here as well, making him wonder just how messy her afternoon snack had been.

"Mrs. Snape?" he asked after releasing the nipple from his mouth with a little smack.

"Yes, Sir?" she answered, gasping.

"Just how much mango juice ran down your perfect little body?" he asked, before continuing to the other side, and finding the flavor there too.

"A little," she said, gasping again as he sucked especially hard.

"How much, Mrs. Snape?" he murmured, giving her a sharp nip to prove his point.

"A lot, Sir," she moaned. She ran her hands through his hair, settling them on his neck.

"Did you do it on purpose?" he asked, licking the valley between the round globes and finding the delicious flavors there too.

"I might have," she sighed.

He smiled as he licked his way down the curve of her abdomen, finding that the flavor of the fruit had disappeared into the waves around them. He frowned with disappointment.

"Too bad you decided to walk out into the waves after your snack, my dear," he said as he let his lips travel back up her body to her mouth. He kissed her again, tangling his tongue with hers before he pulled away.

"I think I may be hungry again, Sir," she said coyly.

"For mangos?" he asked as he pulled her top back into place.

She nodded and her smile held untold secrets. "I want to see what they taste like on you."


	2. II

II.

Later, after the juices of several mangos found their way across both of their bodies and had subsequently been licked and sucked away, Severus held Ginny in his arms and watched her as she slept. In sleep she was peaceful, more at peace than she ever was in her waking hours.

Even after being together for almost eleven years now, her face was never completely calm – at least until she came to him before dinner. Then, when he spanked her smart little bottom until her cheeks were a lovely shade of pink, her face became serene and tranquil, as though she had never faced any of the hardships of her life.

When she was riding a broom – _a proper, wooden broom_ , he smirked – he imagined she must look the same way. He'd never been focused on her during the Quidditch games she played in when she was a student as his concern was always for his Slytherins or on matters other than the Gryffindor team. He regretted that now. When they'd flown together over the previous summer the look was more undiluted joy rather than the tranquility he saw when she was bent over his desk with her skirt around her waist, waiting for him.

He wondered idly if he looked the same way during those times.

He felt that way; that much was for sure. Her submission to him was … Merlin, there were no words for it. Wonderful? It didn't quite catch how awe-inspiring it was. Splendid? That wasn't it either, for it didn't express the excitement that came from it, and the sentiment was too sweet. It wasn't perfect either, for she was a rebellious little thing who loved to show him exactly who held all the control in their relationship.

As if he needed a reminder.

He still wondered why she chose him. Ginny could have been with anyone. She was young, vibrant, and so achingly beautiful. He thanked whatever god was listening that he had enough self-discipline to have not completely realized just how completely lovely she was when she was still his student. Her prettiness had been obvious then, he did remember that. Occasionally, he would covertly glance in her direction with his face hidden in the lengths of his greasy hair to appreciate it, especially when she wore her hair down around her face.

Ginger hair had always been an attraction for him, even before he'd become so obsessed with Lily. There was another Muggle girl in town who his mother had kept during the day when he was very young, maybe six or seven. Her hair was the color of the sunset, and he used to watch her when she was out playing with his mother in the sunshine of their yard. Severus couldn't even remember her name now, but he would always remember her brightness being one of the few cheerful things in his life then.

Now, his little red-headed witch, all that he cared about in the world and the best part of his life, was snuggled tightly next to him, as though she were trying to blend her body into his. Her pregnant belly was slightly resting on his hip, the little life within still except for an occasional movement to let him know she was indeed ever present.

He tried to envision what she would look like when she was born, especially as the time was growing very near. Without a doubt, he wished for her to look like her mother, with the red hair he loved, the blue eyes that calmed his soul, and the freckled skin that she hated but that he loved to touch. But the Prince genes were strong – that had been evidenced in his own appearance. His father had been fair haired and eyed, with tanned skin from day labor. It was his mother who'd had the black hair and eyes that he'd inherited, and he favored her down to the horrible nose in both their faces.

A faint groan came from his chest with the thought that their little girl could inherit the Prince features that he so hated. But the thought of her having any of the Snape characteristics made him weak with fear.

He thought of his father; his pious, neglectful father who would rather frequent the inside of first the local church and then the local pub than come home and spend any of his spare moments with his wife and child – the witch and wizard that he'd been saddled with against his will. He wondered if the first Tom Riddle had felt the same when he woke from her Amortentia laden stupor and realized that he'd been completely duped by a witch who was more intelligent than anyone gave her credit for.

Tobias Snape had been not been poisoned into a loveless marriage like the Dark Lord's father, but he'd surely felt that way when his wife had finally admitted that she was a witch, long after the nuptials that had been necessitated by the pregnancy that resulted in his birth. He'd taken out his anger of being married to a witch – a sinful, godless witch – by doing nothing and being nothing to either his wife or child. He came home every night, usually drunk and more spiteful than Severus could have every hoped to be during the height of the war, but he was never _there_.

Tobias never gave any more of himself to them that was required, until the day Severus got his Hogwarts letter in the mail. Then, suddenly, he had all the attention he never wanted when the neglect shifted into abuse.

His father had known that Severus was a wizard, but Tobias thought he might be able to pray the trait out of him in time. When it didn't work, he tried to beat it out of his son. The fights that occurred every summer the closer the calendar came to September were legendary in Spinner's End, even though their neighbors never knew exactly what they were about. Potter had thought that the Muffliato Charm had been Severus's invention. In reality, it had been Eileen Snape's last creation so that their secret could stay safe within the walls of their home despite the screams and pleas for mercy.

Severus tightened his hold on his wife, trying to chase away those thoughts before they took hold over his mind. It never did any use for him to dwell in the past, even if the memories still haunted him. Especially at night, when dreams, nightmares, and reality sometimes blurred until he wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.

After burying the thoughts of his father tightly back into his mind, he pondered, instead, over the previous few hours he and his spent in bed. Ginny's libido had soared throughout the pregnancy to the point that he'd done some private research on the matter to make sure it was as normal as Poppy had assured them it was. He'd even consulted Muggle sources during a trip to one of his ingredient suppliers in London, just to help his mind to rest easy on the subject.

Of course, the MediWitch had been correct, but the affirmation from the private sources made him feel better about continuing to please her in any way she preferred. Except for their private time before supper – he'd been firm about that ceasing until after the baby was born mostly due to his own fears. So, instead of the spankings that he normally gave her, he fucked her on that same desk every single afternoon until the moans she normally delighted him with before had changed into screams of pleasure after he kept her from orgasm until she threatened to curse him.

She'd threatened to do the same tonight, when he insisted on dripping the juice on her body over and over again, only using his tongue to clean his mess. As he explained to her, it truly was the only way he could make sure that she was really clean. She'd paid him back in kind. He smiled when recalled the triumph in her face when she'd made his eyes almost cross with her tongue and mouth.

He felt himself twitch a little, trying to come to life. As though she recognized the shift in his thoughts even in sleep, Ginny's mind was suddenly very present in the room as she slowly woke. Just a sigh at first, followed by the tune she unconsciously hummed when she woke every morning.

He groaned when he felt her hand travel to his groin.

"Find something you like?" he asked, almost a sigh as she squeezed his length.

"I think I have," she replied. Her fingers were cool against his hot skin as she stroked him, making him fully erect. She licked her lips as she lowered the sheets to expose his naked body to her eyes, then let her eyes travel back up to his face. "What would you like tonight? Can I take a ride on your broom?" she asked, giggling a little as she swung her leg over his to straddle him.

"There's nothing I'd like more," he answered. He flexed his hips to meet hers, seeking out the warm heat that made him feel like he was home.

She laughed and grabbed his hands, trying to find the perfect balance as she shifted her weight a little on his lap. Bringing his knees up slightly to support her, he helped her find the right position so that she could ride him to her heart's content.

"Oh, my …" she sighed as she slid down along his length, squeezing him as her body met his in the most intimate of caresses. Then she began to move in slow, teasing circles, rocking back and forth as he met her hips with his.

"Ginny," he whispered, lost in the haze of bliss she brought him with her movements. She let go of his hands and grabbed the headboard behind him, giving him the opportunity to touch her body as he desired while she sped up her movements. His hands slid over her arms, feeling the muscles in them flex as she moved. He let his hands settle on her breasts, not settling really, as he favored them above almost any other feature on her body besides her lovely backside. Squeezing hard, he watched her face to make sure he wasn't being too rough.

"Is this okay?" he asked, repeating the movement, seeing her bite her lower lip in response.

"Yes," she gasped. "Gods, yes. Don't stop."

He smiled lazily and continued, sliding his fingers over her swollen nipples and pinching lightly at first, then harder when he heard her moan of pleasure and felt the affirmation come from her mind as well. She leaned forward a little, giving him the opportunity to catch one in his mouth to tease with his lips, tongue, and teeth. He realized he'd missed a spot earlier, despite his care, when the flavor of ripe fruit came to his lips.

She moaned in response. "Harder, Severus. Please."

Grinning against her skin now, he complied with absolute delight, using his teeth to graze the sensitive skin as he sucked harder. She clinched around him, her movements slowing as she muttered inarticulate words, begging him to continue.

"Shhhh," he crooned gently as her paid her other breast the same attention, biting sharply when she cursed him coarsely for the brief interlude it took him to bring it to his mouth.

"Oh, fuck," she cried, her movements speeding back up clumsily now in her excitement as she was trying to seek release. He brought his hands to her hips, slowing her pace down again.

"Not until I tell you, Mrs. Snape," he said.

"Need to come now," she whimpered, trying to rub herself frantically with her fingers.

He grabbed her wrists lightly, bringing her fingers to his mouth so he could taste her desire before he entwined his fingers with hers and settled them on her hips. "All good things to those who wait," he said as he thrust his hips against hers, setting a new, achingly slow rhythm that took every ounce of his self-control to keep.

He refused to Occlude his thoughts during sex, even if it would delay his release – every minute of their love making was too intense and too passionate for him to lose any of time to the sanctuary of his mind. He focused on her face instead, watching the flush rise more still in her cheeks and forehead as she fought to reach the orgasm he was keeping just out of her grasp with his ridiculously slow movements.

"Bastard," she whispered, half-heartedly trying to break her hands free.

"What was that?" he asked, slowing his thrusts almost to a stop.

"You are a bastard, Sir," she said, trying to wiggle her hips despite his control over them.

"That's a little better at least," he groaned, resuming the actions of his hips.

He kept up with the slow rhythm as long as he was able; soon enough she was purposefully squeezing him with every muscle in her groin, teasing him as much as he was teasing her. It was enough to drive a sane man crazy. He released her hands and loosened his grip on her hips, and she began to move as though her life depended on the orgasm he felt building within her. He felt his own begin as well, warmth moving from his spine to his groin with every thrust.

"I'm …" she whispered, not able to finish before spasms shook her body. Severus watched his already beautiful wife glow from every pore as she came in his hands, trembling and shaking with the force of her pleasure. Hard ripples wrenched his cock as she came, sending him over the edge and into oblivion with her.

"Ginny," he shouted, unable to control the emotion in his voice. Nor did he want to.

She rested back against his knees, catching her breath and watching him come down from the incredible high of their love making. When he was finally able to open his eyes he looked right into her blue ones.

"I love you," he said softly, using the voice he saved for her when she'd been very, very good.

"I love you, too," she said back.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly with those words. He helped her move from his lap, though he immediately missed being within her as soon as he felt himself leave her body. Settling her back next to him, he cast a cleansing charm over both of them.

"I hope that was a good ride, Mrs. Snape," he murmured as he kissed her forehead.

"The best," she said groggily as she moved back into sleep once more.

This time, he slept with her.


	3. III

III.

Severus woke later to the sound of Ginny's delighted giggles. For a minute he simply enjoyed the sweet sound as it rang in his ears before he opened one eye and saw her stroking her stomach, speaking softly between her bursts of laughter.

"We already love you so much, little one. I'm so excited to get to meet you."

She stopped to laugh again and stroke the bulge of her stomach.

"I guess you are excited to meet us, too. You will grow up in a family with so much love. You'll see, my sweet little girl. We've waited so long for you."

More laughter, more rubs to her belly.

"Severus, I know you're awake. You have to feel her move!"

Ginny grabbed his hand and placed it just below her navel as he opened both eyes and pretended to look sheepish. His hand shook as he felt a good, hard kick against his palm. Jumping a little, he was so surprised by the force the action that he leaned over her belly to see if her skin was bruised. It was not; he was only greeted by the sight of Ginny's stretched out navel that made him smirk a little before she slapped his shoulder lightly.

"Now, now," she clucked. "Just think about how yours would look if you were in the same boat."

He shuddered a little at the thought before he placed his steadier hand back on the same spot. He felt more of the same, hard kicks against his hand.

"She is so strong," he said.

"Just like her father," she said, giggling as another sharp kick bumped his hand.

"Just like her mother," he replied, marveling as he always did at the sight of Ginny's skin moving and shaking with each movement of the tiny feet within her.

"She likes you, Severus," Ginny whispered as she placed her hand over his. "She always kicks harder when you are awake."

He moved up so that he was closer to her stomach, almost nose to foot with in the movements with in her.

"How do you – oh good gods," he exclaimed as he felt the kicks come even harder.

"I think she likes the sound of your voice, dear. You should talk to her. Whenever you speak she goes crazy. You can just feel it even better, now, on the outside," she said, wonder filling her voice.

"What should I speak to her about?" he asked, moving so that he could place a second hand on the mound.

"I don't know if it matters, love," she said, smiling happily at the sight of Severus's nose just peaking over her navel. "The books say it's good to read to them, even now. Why don't you tell her a story?"

He sighed, trying to find a happy story from his memory to share.

"You can start with 'once upon a time', like the Muggles do."

"Don't be ridiculous, my dear girl. I can be more creative than that." Except, that he couldn't. He paused while he tried to think of any story to tell.

"Anything," Ginny whispered. "While she's still awake."

Severus nodded and rolled his eyes a little, earning another light slap, when he began. "Once upon a time, there was a very sad young wizard. There was no happiness in his world, because he had lost everything that ever mattered to him." He felt the kicks continue at a gale force.

"Severus, don't make it a sad story. I think I brought a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard if – "

"Let me continue, Mrs. Snape," he said, glaring up at her from over her stomach.

She frowned at him and nodded for him to continue.

"The young, ugly wizard had lost everything that ever mattered to him, and he was very sad. He spent two years feeling very sorry for himself, indeed. In a dungeon, no less. There was no one for him to talk to about how sad he was, because his best friends had all passed beyond the veil before him in a War that almost cost the wizard his own life."

The kicks continued, and Ginny stayed silent, though he knew she was still frowning.

"Then one day, a great witch came to see him, for she needed guidance and a place to live, as her parents, the grand sorcerer and his even grander wife, wanted her to increase her knowledge. Since the wizard was a very learned man, many people sought him to increase their education. He decided, against his better judgment, to take on the witch as his student so that she could learn her trade from him properly. The witch was very beautiful, but in great coincidence was also very sad. But she made the wizard very happy for the first time that he could ever recall."

Great, hard kicks pounded against his hand. Ginny was so silent he wondered if she had stopped breathing, but he didn't think he could look up at her just yet.

"The wizard soon found that he was deeply in love with the witch for several reasons. Firstly, because of her great beauty, for he loved to watch her move and smile. Her hair, the color of the darkest sunset, also drew him to her like a moth to the flame. Secondly, because of her great knowledge, for she was a very bright witch, which the wizard greatly appreciated when she wasn't being careless and not following his instructions. And lastly, because of her great heart and her ability to love and forgive. It was that last quality that attracted him to her the most, because the sad wizard also needed much forgiveness, as he had once been a very bad man."

Ginny's hand squeezed his with the strength she had gained from years of lugging cauldrons around the dungeons, but still he didn't look up. Under both of their hands, the kicks were coming slower, though still present.

"When the witch forgave him of the great wrongs that he had done not only to her, but to the rest of their kind, he knew that he could never let her go, though he couldn't begin to think of how to tell her. So, one day he found an activity that they both enjoyed participating in," he said, smirking a little as Ginny's hand swatted his, "and they became very good friends indeed. He tried to bind her to him without her knowing, but the witch's brother, a he-wolf," another swat, "found him out, and made him promise to care for the witch in all ways as long as she was under the wizard's protection. And so he did, though he would have done so even without the he-wolf's meddling."

Little kicks continued to hit his hand, and Ginny was rubbing his bracelet thoughtfully with her fingertips.

"Over time, the wizard began to hope that the lovely witch might love him back. But he was afraid, as he was a very shy man and very afraid of the strength of his feelings toward her."

The kicks were rhythmic now, as though the little life within were trying to stay awake for the end. Ginny's hand stroked his, her fingers running between his own as he continued.

"Then one day, the witch and wizard finally found each other out. Despite the wizard's many faults, the witch was as in love with him as he was with her. And suddenly, both the witch and wizard were not sad anymore. They were very happy indeed, because they had each other. After a time, they were married, and now live in a castle, though in the deep, dark dungeon, as the witch and wizard are not your normal kind of folk. And they lived happily ever after, despite the meddling of the sorcerer, his wife, the rest of the witch's family - including their adopted son and his wife who are both total idiots. The end."

The kicks had stopped for the most part, now he only felt an occasional roll against his hand. He finally dared to look up at his wife and saw the tears in her eyes as she stared down at him.

"Oh, Severus," she whispered, sitting up so they could see each other better.

He cleared his throat, which had constricted a little in the last part of the story. His throat was now almost completely healed and he no longer needed to use the Throat Repair with regularity. He couldn't really figure out why it felt so tight now. It must have been the weather, he mused, as he slid back up the bed to lay next to his wife.

"That was beautiful, Severus. Thank you," she said, kissing his lips lightly.

"I didn't say it was a true story, Mrs. Snape," he teased.

"You are really an insufferable man, Sir," she sighed, kissing him again. "I didn't know Bill spoke to you after that first Christmas."

He grimaced. "He didn't as much speak to me as he immediately sent me a Howler. Apparently he walked into your room after we both left to go for a walk. We forgot to cancel the Muffling Charm, and he put that together with your bracelet and came up with the correct conclusion."

"Merlin's big toe," Ginny groaned. She touched her bracelet, thoughtfully, lost in memory. In all these years, she'd never removed it, as he had never removed his. "I knew I'd missed something."

"Well, Bill didn't," he said, wincing with the memory of the smoking red envelope waiting for him when he returned to Hogwarts. "The Howler … well, _howled_ something to the lines of 'If you hurt my baby sister I swear I will either strangle you myself or sic my mother on you, you great big greasy bat. But if you are really happy together, then you better take care of her, or else I will strangle you, etc, etc.' It actually went on like that for a while," he said, snorting at the memory of the ten page Howler than rambled on about how he ' had better treat Ginny like the perfect treasure she was'.

"Then that explains all the lunches," she said thoughtfully, though he knew she was trying her best not to laugh. "He really was checking up on me."

"And reporting back to Granger when she couldn't attend," Severus said, thinking about the second Howler that arrived early the next morning that screeched only one word: "Careful".

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked, looking genuinely confused.

"I didn't want you to worry," he said simply. "And I was an adult and had endured far worse than a few Howlers."

She nodded, looking sad and pensive for the first time since they came to the island.

"Don't think about it, sweet girl," he said, lifting her chin with one of his long fingers to meet his eyes. He kissed her, trying to rid her beloved head of any thought that could cause her any sadness. When he felt her respond, he deepened the kiss, seeking out her tongue with his before he pulled away to look at her. Her face was still a little sad and nervous.

He knew she missed their old afternoons together. As pleasurable as their substitute activities were for both of them, it didn't cause her the release and peace of spirit that the spankings did. Honestly, he missed it as well, and sometimes he felt his hands itch to bend her over any surface and yank up her skirts so he could have his way with her the way they both wanted to.

"Do you want to go again?" he asked, stroking her jaw gently, trying to work the muscles free from the frown.

"Not _just_ yet," she said, stretching so that he breasts were right in his face. He groaned lightly. "I need to eat something first, I'm starving."

"For mangos?" he said, his voice a little too hopeful for his own taste.

"No, maybe not for mangos," she said, giggling. "At least, not right now. I have a craving for raspberries. I saw some in the kitchen when we got here and put a Stasis Charm on them to keep them fresh."

"Raspberries?" he whispered, eyeing her nipples and thinking how much they reminded him of the food she was craving. He licked his lips thoughtfully.

"Um-hmm," she said, arching her back so that her nipples almost grazed his lips. She got out of the bed and put on her dressing gown. "Raspberries are very good for the baby and me, you know," she said, winking as she left the room.

He groaned as he got out of bed and followed her.

* * *

As it turned out, raspberries were very good for all three of the Snape's, in one way or another.


	4. IV

IV.

"Severus?"

They were out on the veranda, watching the waves in the previously uncomfortable chairs that he'd fixed with a Cushioning Charm.

"What it is, my love?"

"Do you really think you're ugly?" Ginny asked, turning her face to him, watching for his reaction.

He leaned back in his chair, quirking his lips up in a sardonic smile. "Am I not?" he asked.

"Don't answer a question with a question, you prat," she said, smiling at him sweetly.

He considered the question for the briefest minute before he answered the truth he'd known for fifty-two years. "Not as much as I used to, but yes."

"Why?" she asked, reaching over to stroke his arm.

"You can't be asking that seriously, Ginny," he said flatly, staring at the wooden slats of the flooring beneath his feet.

"But I am, Severus," she said, her fingertips rubbing up his arm to his shoulder. "Why? Do you really think that, or is it something someone told you that you still believe?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I look in the mirror every morning and see my own face. I can see my hideous nose, greasy hair, and hollow cheeks. I know how ugly I am."

"Your hair isn't greasy anymore, dear," she said softly, running her hands through the black strands that were streaked with much more silver than they had been during her interview with him over a decade ago.

He smirked. "A minor miracle."

"Hush," she said. "As for your nose, you do realize it's not as big as you think it is?"

Severus rolled his eyes before he turned his face to hers. "Really?" he asked sardonically.

She just kept smiling. "It isn't," she said, giggling a little. "You know, some women revere men with larger noses, since it's a predictor of – "

" _Mrs. Snape_ ," he gasped, pretending to be shocked.

She merely continued giggling. "And since you have a larger nose, large hands, and large feet, I'd say you have a trifecta of predictors in that area." She looked at him, veiling her eyes with her eyelashes. "The best thing about you is that it's all quite correct."

"Minx," he said, reaching over to pinch her. He was glad now for the sunburn that was hiding the flush creeping across his cheeks.

"It's true," she said, leaning in to pinch him back.

His lips twitched, as did certain other parts of his anatomy. When he shifted, it had nothing to do with the comfort of the chair.

"As for your 'hollow cheeks', they would fill back out if you started eating normally again. I wish you would," she said softly, her face tensing with worry.

"Mrs. Snape," he said sharply. "You _don't_ to dictate my actions, whether it includes eating or otherwise."

"I don't?" she retorted, her voice tinged with anger. "I _don't_? Why not?"

"Because that's not the way we work," he said, cutting his eyes at her. "I take care of you. I've always taken care of you and protected you. That's what I do. I don't need a mother," he added, tugging the sleeves of his shirt.

"Do you think that's what I'm trying to do?" she asked, standing to her feet slowly as she balanced the weight in front of her. "I'm worried about you, Severus. You haven't been eating properly since we found out about the baby. Your insomnia is worse than it's ever been. How many points did you take from Slytherin last term while you were prowling around the dungeons, pretending you weren't pacing?"

"How did you know about that?" he asked, genuinely surprised, and also secretly hoping to change the topic of conversation.

She rested her back against the white post behind her. "Because your Slytherins tattled on you. They're worried about you, too." She looked down at her feet. "I also have the old Marauder's Map," she said sheepishly.

"Potter actually decided to part with his father's legacy?" he asked, laughing a little despite himself.

"Actually, Hermione gave it to me a few years ago so that Harry wouldn't be tempted to give it James or Lily," she said, giggling a little before she turned her gaze back to him.

"Smart of her," he said. "It'll make our lives easier when it's time for them to come to Hogwarts, if they end up being more like Potter and your brothers than they are like her."

"That's exactly what I told Hermione," she said with a little sigh as she rubbed her middle. "Can you imagine what it's going to be like, with not only them but George and Angelina's brood and Ron and Lav's twins? Most of them will overlap at some point. I'm already stocking up on Valerian Root."

"Wise of you, my dear," he said. The thought of the multitude of Weasley boys that would soon be reemerging in the school was not what had been keeping him up at night, but it did amuse him to think of the laughter that might return to the school with them. Argus was already slowly counting down the days, re-reading Fred and George's old file in his office, hoping to make sure he would finally stay ahead of any potential antics. George's oldest son, who was Fred's namesake, would be starting his 1st year in the fall.

"We should be glad Fleur is insisting on sending Arthur, Andre, and Louis to Beauxbatons," Ginny added. "As good as Bill was in school I think those three will be worse than Fred and George ever dreamed of being."

He smiled a little and nodded in agreement before looking back up at his wife. "Does it bother you that our little lady won't have any other female playmates in the family?"

Ginny looked confused. "She'll have Lily, Severus."

"You know what I mean."

She shrugged. "Lily is as much of her cousin as the other Weasleys, for me at least," she said, before a little frown quickly passed over her face. It was quickly replaced with a one of her gentle smiles before she pulled out her wand.

"Crescere magnus."

Severus felt his chair shift underneath him and looked down, realizing she'd made it into a small sofa.

"You'll have to remember to fix that when we leave," he said.

"I've been keeping a list."

She sat down next to him and curled up to his side. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently to him, enjoying her presence. Looking down at her red head tucked underneath his shoulder, he couldn't resist the compulsion to drop a quick kiss to her forehead. A very feminine sigh floated up to his ears.

"You aren't getting out of answering my questions that easily. But it was a nice try."

He let his head droop forward as a deep groan filled his chest.

"Are you worried that she will look like you?"

"If you'd saw a picture of my mother, you'd understand why," he said. "Imagine a woman with my face."

"I actually would like to see a picture of her sometime, and your father for that matter," Ginny said as she stroked his knee. "You know everything there is to know about my family, and I still know nothing of yours, other than they passed years ago."

"That's _all_ there is to know," he said, trying hard not to grit his teeth and having little success. The words came out angrier than intended. Her hand stilled on his knee before she pulled it away and back into her own lap. He felt her hurt and immediately regretted it.

He scrubbed his free hand over his face. "I didn't mean to speak to you that way. Please accept my apologies."

He felt her nod, though she did not speak out loud.

 _Damn_.

"Talk to me, Ginny," he said, reaching for her hand.

This time she shook her head and stood up slowly.

"Talk to _me_ , Severus," she said. When she turned and started to walk away, his heart sank in his chest.

 _It's finally happening._

When she quickly turned back around, he tried not to let his surprise show.

"I'm not going to let it go this time," she said. "What is it that's keeping you awake?"

Severus refused to meet her eyes. The thoughts that ran through his mind at night were not things he wanted to burden her with, especially not now.

She walked in front of him and slowly kneeled, resting her hands on his knees. "I miss you. It's more than just missing our real playtime. You've been hiding something, and it's hurting you. It's hurting me, too."

He turned his head away, unable to look at her.

"Severus," she said, squeezing his knees with her hands.

He shook his head and closed his eyes, only seeing the memories he was trying to escape rolling by like a picture show on the backs of his eyelids. He quieted his mind, slowly moving the thoughts away until they were completely gone.

When he opened his eyes again, she was still there, peering up at him with a curious expression on her face. She nodded, as though she was making a decision.

"Do you see this little scar, just above my knee?" She lifted her skirt a little to show him what he knew to be the first cut she ever made on her body.

He nodded and said, "Yes."

She leaned forward and kissed his lips gently.

"Did I ever tell you about it?" she asked.

"You said it happened your 6th year."

"It did," she said, rubbing the scar lightly with her thumb. "But I never told you the circumstances, did I?"

"No."

"Did you ever find that to be odd, considering I told you about every other one?"

He shook his head. "I figured you would tell me if you wanted me to know."

She considered this and bit her lip. "I _didn't_ want you to know. I've been hiding things too, Severus."

For the first time since she Vanished her Little Bag and new cuts no longer appeared, he felt genuinely afraid.

"Ginny, you haven't been – "

"No, Severus. It's not that." She frowned and looked at her hands. They were shaking a little, just as they did when she was tempted.

They became tight, little fists, and the tremors ceased.

"You don't have to tell me," he said, grabbing her small, strong hands into his own.

"I do." She took a deep breath. "I didn't want to tell you this, because I was afraid it would hurt you. But I'm tired of us keeping secrets from each other. I did this," she said, pulling a hand free to point at the cut again, "after I served detention with you at the beginning of that year. I caught you looking at me while I was scrubbing cauldrons in Dungeon Five, though you thought you were hiding behind your hair. I was watching you, hiding behind mine."

He drew in a sharp breath and felt that his throat had constricted tightly. Fighting against it, he breathed in and out, slowly, just has the Healers at St. Mungo's taught him. He remembered that day vividly. Her hair was loose, spilling down her back in a wave of color against the dank dungeon. With the Dementors at the school and all the light and happiness gone, she had been the most beautiful thing he'd seen in weeks.

He started to shake his head, hard and quick, attempting to cancel out what he just heard.

"It's true," she said. "I've tried very hard not to think about it, because I didn't want to hurt you. I understand what it's like to hold things in and not to react well to the hurt. When I saw the look in your eyes that night, like you actually gave a damn about me, it made me angry. I felt helpless to do anything about it – about the anger. I ended up cutting myself with the knife from my potions kit. The next day I began restarting the DA with Neville and Luna."

He wanted to cover his ears with his hands, or better yet use a time turner and change everything from that night. "I caused you to cut yourself the first time?" he asked brokenly.

She nodded. "I did it to myself, Severus, but yes," she whispered. "It was in response to that."

He knew she was near tears, and honestly so was he. The burn in his eyes felt like fire.

"Severus, I meant what I said all those years ago over tea. I forgive you. I _still_ forgive you. That will never stop."

She leaned forward and kissed him again, but he couldn't respond. His lips felt like two unmovable pieces of stone.

"I love you. I've loved every bit of you – good, bad, or otherwise – for probably longer than I care to even admit," she said, squeezing his knee as he tried to shut his eyes. He kept them open. "Whatever is hurting you, I want to know. The truth must out, eventually."

She rested back on her heels and laid her head on his lap. The gesture was not sexual. She was seeking comfort from him as he wanted to seek it from her.

It was his undoing. His throat became unbearably tight as tears coursed down his face.

"Ginny," he whispered, running his hands over her head. "What did I do to you? What do I keep doing to you?" he asked, trying very hard not to sob.

"You didn't make me who I was back then. I did that to myself," she said, looking up at his face with completely dry eyes. She brushed her thumbs over his cheeks, trying to change the course of his tears. "You have always had my expressed consent about everything else. Every side of you that comes forth brings me closer to home, because my home is with you. What I want more than anything is your home to be with me."

She kissed him again, her hands stroking his face as he willed himself to respond to her but failed.

When she pulled away from him, he looked helplessly into her eyes. She was so open to him now, more so than she'd ever been before. He felt her love for him – her improbable, nonsensical love for him. He wanted to rest and make his home there, but he finally realized that he couldn't do it, not the way that it could be, not with the barriers that he'd set up.

After he cleared his throat and closed his eyes, he spoke almost the same sentence that he told Albus over thirty years ago, after he came back to Hogwarts the fall of his 7th year.

"My father abused both my mother and me, verbally and physically, from the time I got my Hogwarts letter until the day he finally killed her."

He opened his eyes and looked at her face, seeing that her expression had changed from worry to grief stricken agony. She drew him into her warm embrace, pressing him so close to her that he felt his daughter kick his own stomach.

"Where is he now?" she asked.

"Hell. He died in a Muggle prison shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts."


	5. V

V.

They sat in the transfigured sofa on the veranda, long after the sun had disappeared into the waves before them, long past the time that they should have gone in for dinner. Ginny had moved from her knees to sit beside him again, and he'd lain down next to her, resting his head in her lap, much the same way she usually did to him. Except, her lap had much less room for his head than his did for hers, they soon found out, since much of it was occupied by the very squirmy little girl within her womb. That was remedied by moving the other chair in front of her so she could put her feet up, therefore giving Severus a little more room.

Her hands were in his hair, finger tips stroking his scalp tenderly as the pair alternated looking at each other and watching the water. His hands were mostly on her middle, touching the covered skin that occasionally moved and bounced from within.

When the full moon rose, bright and white as snow, he finally spoke again.

"How did you fall in love with me, Ginny? With everything I've done in the past, so many of those things affecting you and the people you love, you should have run as far away from me as you could. I've never understood why."

She shook her head, smiling as she looked down at him. "Why are we wizards? I don't know why or how it happened. I do know that I would do it all again if given the choice. With you, I'm happy. I feel safe and cherished and loved. And all those things are because of you." She stroked his cheek with her hand, her gaze as darkly blue at the midnight sky around them. "Why do you love me?"

"How could I not?" he asked. "You … fill the parts of me that I lack. Your heart, your beauty, and your mind first drew me to you. I meant what I said in that story."

"I know," she said, her smile becoming serene. "It was nice to hear it."

"It was a little hard to say it, I won't lie."

She nodded and looked up at the moon, still stroking his face. "What matters is that you did say it. It meant to world to me."

He smiled up at her. "You'd think after all this time I would have caught onto that."

She shrugged. "You are a little thick when it comes to your emotions, but I've never minded. You express them in a thousand ways other than words. That's more important, to me at least." She glanced down and frowned. "You actually do tell me all those things after we ... do what we do. Do you realize that?"

"I do," he affirmed. "Your pregnancy hasn't been the only time I've researched things in Muggle bookstores. Some things about us are instinctual, and other things I needed a little help with. It's not the type of subject they carry at Flourish and Blotts."

"Or Nocturn Alley," she said softly.

He looked up at her, his black eye brows raised almost off his forehead.

She gave him a forbidding expression. "You weren't the only one who had questions, and it's not the type of thing I could ask my mother about, unless you wanted all my brothers, my father, and Harry to ambush you."

"I just wish I'd known," he said, reaching his hand up to her face. "Researching it together could have been a lot of fun."

"It still can be," she said, tracing his lips with her fingertips. "We've a lot of time in front of us yet."

"True," he said, smirking a little at the lascivious thoughts going through his head about what laid ahead of them.

"Tell me about him, Severus," she said, her face as peaceful and calm as their sea.

He sighed, and began to tell her a different story than the one he told her and their child a few nights ago.

"I never saw him again, after he was taken away. I could have," he said. He shivered with the memory of seeing his father being removed from the little house in Spinner's End. "But I was already a Death Eater then, and I didn't care about anything anymore, other than serving him and rising in the ranks. I was immersed in the Dark Lord's philosophy, and to me Tobias Snape was just another dirty Muggle, not even my father anymore in my eyes. After he killed her ... I think I saw him as more evil than even the Dark Lord himself. Lucius and Regulus were supportive of that statement, well, Lucius more than Regulus I suppose. I lost myself after that."

"What were you like before?" she asked gently.

"Before I took the Mark?"

"No, love. Before the abuse started. What were you like when you first met Lily Evans?"

He rolled the years back in his mind, trying to picture the dirty little boy who used to watch Lily and her sister swing on the playground. "Sad. Too thin. Dressed in my mother's old clothes from school. Lily was a very kind little girl. I'm still amazed she even spoke to me in the beginning."

"It sounds like you were unhappy then, too," Ginny said.

"Before the abuse started we were neglected like two cracked potion vials. There was never any money – he'd give it to the church before he'd contribute it to the household. Hogwarts was the first place I ever had a decent meal," he said remembering how hungry he used to be.

"You realize that sounds a lot like Harry was when he lived with his relatives?" she asked, very gently.

He nodded.

"The Healers at St. Mungo's pointed that out as well. I've spoken about these things before, my love, just not to you. And not with the perspective of having known love other than my mother's." He paused to take a deep breath.

"I have a lot of regrets in life, Ginny. I know I could have been different to Harry Potter, but I couldn't. No one could suspect anything about me," he said. "And I've also just genuinely never liked him. A lot of that is because of his father, but there's also the fact that he's a very thoughtless person, as a student and beyond. Albus constantly tried to tell me how much like his mother he was in hopes to get me to see some good in him, and he is very much like Lily, in every way. Albus couldn't see what I understood about her, as he only remembered the shining, friendly Head Girl … although, before her death, I believe she was truly as Albus saw her."

He had to pause again, not fighting the burn, letting tears fall from his eyes as he thought about her still body lying in the ruins of the house in Godric's Hollow.

"I understand that I said something terrible to her, I know that. I've thought about it enough over the years," he said bitterly. "But her inclination then was not to love and forgive, like yours has been. It was to cut me off completely. It drove me further down the path to the Dark Lord than she could have realized. I'm not blaming her. I made that choice; the path was already paved. But, I wish she could have forgiven me before ..."

Ginny stroked his face, wiping away the tears that were still running down his face. He cleared his throat and tried to continue.

"Imagine having to see her same angry, accusatory eyes every day in another face – a face that looked so much like your childhood tormentor that it brought back every insecurity and fear you ever had as a teenager, despite that fact that you were a grown man – a former Death Eater bearing the Dark Mark. It was ... I just couldn't, Ginny. I'm only a man, I'm no saint."

He reached up to wipe his eyes when the tears blurred his vision. When he looked back up to his wife he saw her blue eyes were red and full of tears, too.

"I'm so sorry, Severus," she said, wiping her eyes.

"It's not your fault," he said.

"I can still be sorry," she said, sighing and looking back at the moon.

"That's another thing I love about you," he said, reaching for her again. "Your compassion."

She smiled down at him. "And I love how pragmatic you are. I know I shouldn't be sorry for the actions of others, but I can't help not to be, when they effect someone I love."

She tried to lean forward to him, but couldn't bend her body properly. The look of frustration on her face was almost comical.

"Can you sit up so I can kiss you?"

"Whatever the lady wishes," he said, moving to sit next to her on the sofa. She moved her hands back to his face, like she was trying to memorize every angular line of it.

"You are a handsome man, Severus, even if only I believe it," she said before she leaned over to kiss him. Her lips slid over his like fresh water, smooth and sweet. They refreshed his soul.

When they parted, he was finally ready.

"Take your wand, Ginny, if you want to see them. I have no pictures left of either of them, but I can show you another way," he said, touching his temple.

"Are you sure?" she asked, picking up the wand sitting next to her.

He nodded, pulling out a brief memory that wouldn't be too painful for her to see.

She pointed the wand to his temple and said, "Legilimens."

 _The couple were sitting on an old, faded sofa in an outdated room, even by the standards then. The woman could only be called "handsome", with a very masculine looking face so much like his own it was frightening. The man was genuinely handsome, with sandy blonde hair, pale green eyes, and very tanned skin. They didn't look at all happy, much like a couple in an old Muggle photograph from the nineteenth century._

He felt her pull away from his mind, and missed her immediately.

"Thank you," she said. She put her wand away leaned into him, molding herself to him as though they were one person.

"Was he like a father to you? He wasn't to me, more like a big brother. A bad big brother, but still ... "

"Who?"

"The Dark Lord."

He considered that, thinking of what his answer had been during his stay at St. Mungo's. Feeling it was still correct, he answered.

"Yes, he was. The Death Eaters were the family I had always longed for and never had, even at school. He made me feel big and important for the first time in my life. At first it was what I wanted, until I overheard the prophecy." He felt the burn again and the regret in his heart made his chest ache.

"Were you still in love with her then?"

He nodded at first, then shook his head, debating the answer. "I find my answers are different than what used to believe, since my life with you began. Compared to what I feel for you, no. It wasn't love. I believed it to be, then, and so I acted like a man in love, trying to save her. I was too late to save my mother, but I could save her, or so I hoped. When I couldn't … it was the first time I saw Harry Potter's angry green eyes staring at me."

He stared up at the moon, as full now as it had been empty and new that night.

"I hated the Dark Lord as much as I hated my father when I saw her body. In the end, Dumbledore was right. She was the best of me, then. She made me a better man. If the Dark Lord had attacked the Longbottom's, I wouldn't have changed a bit. I wouldn't have cared. Even if it was hate for the noseless bastard fueling me, it still produced a better outcome than the alternative. I could have rotted in a cell in Azkaban like Bellatrix ... or my father for that matter."

"Why did you never go see him?" she asked so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

"I had nothing to say," he said simply. "I will never regret not going to see him, not even once. My mother loved me, though she couldn't protect me, and he stole that from me. I didn't know love again until you came to me in your hand me down robes, looking for a job."

He paused, and for the first time in months he heard his stomach growl.

"Mine too," she giggled.

"What are you hungry for?" he asked, standing to his feet and holding out a hand to her. "Raspberries?" he asked hopefully.

"We ate them all yesterday, love," she said, smirking.

He scowled.

"I was thinking about something sweet though."

He looked at her hopefully.

"Mangos?"

"Honey," she said.

"You're killing me, Ginny," he said, stroking the bare skin on her arm.

"If you massage the skin first with a little grapeseed oil ..." she said.

He felt himself stir.

"Let's have some of that chicken first though, okay?"

He laughed softly. "Deal."

 _A/N: They've got a lot more talking to do ... stay tuned._  
 _This has been extremely emotional for me to write, and I've been having trouble getting it out. Bear with me. I'll explain at the end - about 3-4 more chapters if I stay on my task._


	6. VI

VI.

They brought the food back outside. Severus knew she was watching him eat every bite that he brought to his mouth, but for the first time in months he didn't mind. If it was how she showed her love, so be it. He hadn't realized that just being open with her about his past, about those things she knew about but didn't really _know_ about, would free him like this.

Being vulnerable was something he had a great amount of experience with from his childhood, and it was not an emotion he'd enjoyed since. But he could be, with her – for her really. For himself.

Ginny put down her empty plate and sat back, looking very satisfied.

"I was starving," she said, eyeing his own empty plate with a little smug smile.

"As was I," he said, setting it down next to hers.

"I know you don't want me to mother you, Severus, but – "

"It's okay, Ginny. I think I find your worry to be very … endearing," he said slowly. "I do appreciate that you haven't started acting like Molly would have done."

"I'm only her daughter, not her clone," she said softly. "And I know better than to try to bully you into eating."

"You've had a couple of tricks up your sleeve, if I should be so bold to accuse you of it," he said, eyeing the jar of honey sitting on the ground next to them.

"I can't help it if I happen to be craving your favorite foods," she said, attempting to look innocent but failing miserably. "Okay, you caught me. But I really was craving raspberries the other day."

"I still am," he said, eyeing her breasts longingly.

"My eyes are up here," she said, giggling and touching his shoulders.

"Of that, I am aware," he sighed before looking back up at her face.

"Later, I promise," she said, leaning in to him once more.

The moon had risen high into the horizon, lighting up the sky with a bright glow that could have rivaled the sun. He looked down at her, caressing her arm and curve of her shoulder as he considered his next words carefully.

"I'm sorry that I never spoke of those things before," he said, settling his hand on her back. "I never wanted to speak of unpleasant things about myself to you at first, because you were so fragile, even after we finally …"

"I know I was," she said. "I've always wanted to know more about you, but I wanted to respect your privacy as well. It's an odd place to be caught between."

"I won't do it again," he said. "At least, I promise that I will try not to. I'll have to get into practice."

"Thank you. And I promise the same," she said in agreement. She stretched her back, giving him a minute to stroke the length of her spine through the thin, gauzy fabric that covered it. Here on the island, she'd taken to wearing light, sleeveless dresses when she wasn't in a bathing suit. He decided he would miss the easy access he had to touch her skin. She might need to be instructed to wear one at home, at least for a few hours on the weekends, when they were alone and the fires of their rooms had been stroked especially strong.

A happy sound of contentment rose from her throat as his hand slipped underneath to meet the bare skin of her back, before languidly retreating. She looked up at him and pouted.

"Later," he whispered.

She took his hand in both of hers, tracing the band of his gold wedding ring.

"Are you afraid of fatherhood?" she asked sometime later.

"Yes."

"Why?"

He looked away, trying to pull all the answers together that he could, sifting through all the fears that had been swarming around his head for the last half year like a noisy bees.

"I guess I could condense it down into three reasons, unless you want to listen to me speak until she's eighteen," he tried to joke.

"Since I love your voice, Severus, either one is fine with me."

He shook his head and smiled at her with longing. "Concise version tonight, longer version tomorrow if you still want to know absolutely everything." He slid his hand from her back to lightly cup her breast in order to prove his point.

"Agreed," she said, gasping when his fingers tweaked her nipple. "You'll have to stop that if you expect me to listen."

He smirked and let his hand return to the soft skin of her upper back. "First, I'm afraid I'll be horrible at the basic mechanics of it. I've never been around children smaller than eleven, so I have absolutely no experience with nappies and other what nots."

"I am the baby of my family, and my only experience is with my nephews, and that's been infrequently. We'll figure it out together," she said, quite convincingly. "I promise."

"I suppose we will have to," he said. "Secondly, having said all that, I've never liked children who couldn't talk back to me with a measure of intelligence, and most of the ones who can are idiots."

"I couldn't agree with that statement more," she said, laughing. "But this child will be ours, and half of her will have your smart mind."

"And the other half will be yours, my dear." He paused, mentally tripping over the last reason every time he attempted to speak it out loud.

"You're afraid you'll be like your father, aren't you?"

He nodded, that damnable burn in his eyes back in full force. Again, he decided not to fight it, and let the tears roll down his face like rain.

"Severus, listen to me," she said, turning his face with her hands to meet hers. "You aren't like him."

"Am I not?" he asked softly, his voice cracking a little under his tears. When was the last time he had cried this much in one day?

"No," she said. "Not one bit."

"Ginny, I spank you and control your actions on a daily basis. And I like it. I know it's not the same, but somewhere in my mind … I can't shake the feeling that it could be."

"If I ever said stop, would you?"

"Without question," he said immediately.

She leaned in closely to him. "That's the difference, Severus. Who has the power in that part of our relationship, you or me?"

He swallowed. "You do, my love. You always have."

She nodded slowly. "Do you see the difference, even just a little? I submit to you and do as you instruct because I want to. It pleases me to please you, and I like to give control to you because … because I trust you with it. I trust you. Since you came back into my life, you've never given me a reason not to."

"And the spankings?" he said.

"If you had any idea the pleasure I get from them, you'd let me do it to you," she said shyly, trying to duck her head under his arm.

"That'll never happen," he said, moving his arm so that she couldn't hide beneath it. "I guess I did realize that the first time you came, during."

He could see her face turn a lovely shade of mind, even in the moonlight. "Please answer me a question, Sir," she said, biting her lip. "What was it that you said when you saw me in those stocking and garter belt that day, bare everywhere else?"

All the blood in his body felt like it surged to his groin with the memory of her bare, pale skin, so soft under his hands that day and every day since. "Beautiful," he admitted. "It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, Mrs. Snape."

"Is it still?"

He nodded. "I think it always will be. That was the day I really began to think that you might love me, too."

"It was the day I realized it, myself. It was why I started crying, at least partly," she admitted. She stood up, and walked to the edge of the veranda, looking out at the sea. He watched her fingers go to the knot at her neck, working her bright hair free from its confines. It flowed like silk down to her waist. He groaned at the sight.

"Do you love me, Severus?"

"With everything in me, Ginny. I would lay down my life for you."

"Do you love our child?"

He stood and walked behind her, setting his hands on her belly. He fought the burn in the eyes and failed yet again when he felt the kick inside pulse against his hands.

"I think she may be the best thing I've ever created," he said, the words coming out in an uncontrolled rush of emotion.

"You'll never be like him, then." She placed her hands over his and squeezed. "You are a thousand times the man that he was. You just have to believe it."

He buried his face in her neck, so moved was he by her unwavering faith and trust in him. And for the first time since he found out he was going to be a father, he believed that she was right. He no longer felt like Tobias Snape's unwanted son, though it was who he was as sure as his eyes were still black. He felt … gods, he realized he felt hope. And forgiveness. And love.

 _Oh, hell._

"Since when did I start feeling like a Weasley, Mrs. Snape?" he said, clearing his throat to make room for the laughter.

"We do have that effect on people, Sir," she said, laughing as well. "Just ask Harry and Hermione."


	7. VII

VII.

He woke the next morning, spooned up behind his wife. The memories of the previous night played out through his mind. There was no regret, only thankfulness for the impossibly wonderful woman lying next to him.

Reflexively, he looked at the small wind up clock on the night stand and noted the time before he wandlessly cast it across the room. He would be able to do the task he had decided on, today. Getting her out of the house or in another room shouldn't be a problem. She'd mentioned wanting to go swimming today after the jar of honey had slowly disappeared over the course of the night. Cleansing charms could only do so much, and the grapeseed oil had been fun to use, even though it hadn't kept things from getting rather sticky in the end.

Letting his hand wander to her breasts, he closed his eyes and let sleep claim him again.

* * *

"Severus!" She called out to him from where she was swimming, a little red dot in the mass of turquoise blue. "Come join me!"

The pleasant undertaking was done, and he'd just walked back outside. She hadn't even caught him away. Waving to her, he took off his shirt and waded out into the water to meet her.

"Good gods, woman. Have you no fear?" he half joked when he realized how far out they were.

"Repelling Charms, dear," she said. "We won't have an unwanted sea visitor as long as we are here, until I cast a Finite."

Amazed with her, as always, he shook his head. "You are a brilliant woman," he said.

"I know," she said cheekily. "I found a sand bar out here." She waded a few feet in front of him, and suddenly it looked like she was merely gliding over the top of the water.

He joined her on it. They were surrounded by the blue of the sea, just the two of them with no distraction. He took her hand and stared into the expanse of blue around them.

"You didn't have any bad dreams last night," she said.

"No," he replied, squeezing her hand. He'd not been able to hide away the dreams over the years, but she'd always known he had more than enough reason to have them and accepted them as part of their reality. "They may never stop, but as you know the dreams are generally better when I'm not under an extreme amount of stress."

She tugged on his hand, pulling him down to look at her. "Is it gone?"

"No," he admitted. "I'm guessing over the next eighteen odd years it'll never be gone. But it's manageable now, I think. At least it is today."

"Have you ever thought of going to St. Mungo's again, just to talk to the Healers?" she asked. "Get a little tune up?"

He nodded. "It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. What about you?"

She shifted her weight and sighed. "I talk to Poppy, just like I did after the Dark Lord possessed me. She was a MediWitch at St. Mungo's before she came to the school, and she's very good I think. I wish I'd talked to her more, my 6th year." She paused and looked up to him. "Then again, if I'd made different choices along the way, we may not have this sea together, would we?"

"Perhaps it would have been a different sea," he said, pulling her closer to him.

"I think I like this one, Severus," she said, leaning her head on his wet chest. "Actually, I love this one. Everything here was worth the wait."

"My beloved girl," he whispered.

* * *

A very disgruntled looking owl appeared after lunch two days later, after she'd gone to their bedroom for a nap.

"You were hired to be a long distance express owl, what did you expect?" he asked the irritable thing. He gave it a leftover piece of bacon from their breakfast and slipped a galleon into the little pouch on its leg. This seemed to appease the poor, exhausted creature.

"There is a bank of palm trees to the left of the house, if you need to rest. Do not let the lady see you, and I'll send you employer another one of these," he said, slipping a second galleon into the pouch, "as well as enough of this," displaying another piece of bacon, "to last you until you retire."

The owl nipped his finger in the haste of getting the bacon from his hand and flew away quickly. Severus watched it settle in the palm trees. With its head tucked under its wing, it could have been another coconut.

He grabbed the package, opening it to make sure his instructions had been followed as ordered. Satisfied with what laid snugly inside the small box, he smiled to himself, knowing this was a little secret that was worth having, if just for a little while.

He walked into the bedroom to join his wife on the bed. Even if he didn't sleep, and he knew he wouldn't, he could watch her. Their girl was very active when Ginny rested, and the sight never ceased to amuse him.

His hand went straight to her pregnant belly, and this time it did not tremble or shake.

He was calm.

* * *

They were back out on the veranda, after dinner. She wanted to sleep under the stars tonight, so the chair had been transfigured yet again into a bed, very similar to the one in their bedroom.

The sound of her tender sigh drifted over to him. He watched her play with the rings on the ring finger of her left hand – the thin gold and platinum band he'd given her on their wedding day and the Prince ring. The ring was more familiar to him than the nose on his face now. It was platinum, as good, goblin made silver had not been good enough for his wealthy, Pure-blood ancestors. The elements of the family crest were engraved into the metal: a small crown (obviously), a serpent, and a sword. Engraved on the inside of the band was the family motto, "Fideliter Pura", as well as the initials of every woman who had ever been given the ring in marriage. It was adorned with three large emeralds.

Ginny loved the ring and wore it without question, though she often joked about the number of Weasley's who must have rolled in their graves when she'd accepted an engagement ring with Slytherin colors.

"Would you really do it all over again?"

Impossibly blue eyes met his. "In a heartbeat, Severus."

He pulled the little box from his pocket. "I've been thinking the last few days, about us. How everything has been renewed out here. I thought maybe that should be celebrated." He took her left hand, removing the Prince ring and moving it to her right hand. "You will wear this ring on your right hand from now on, never again on your left."

From the little box, he removed the ring he had designed and ordered via a long distance Floo call. The jeweler was a previous student from before Potter's arrival at Hogwarts, who was well known for her excellent, fast work. Of course, her use of some slightly illegal charms didn't hurt the process, but Severus had been determined to have given this gift to her before the end of their holiday.

He'd made a new ring for their new family, and for her specifically. Three dark blue aquamarines, almost the color of the sea around them and close to the color of her eyes, sat side by side in a gold and platinum band, which had been designed to look like the ripples of waves. On the inside of the band, this time in plain English rather than the Runes he'd used before, was written, "I am bound to my beloved." The only initials here were their own, along with the date they first arrived on the island.

He slipped it on her hand, feeling it adjust to her finger size.

"Oh wow," she said, staring down at her hand.

"Do you – "

She stopped his words with a kiss so passionate she nearly took his breath away.

* * *

He slept again under the stars, his arms wrapped around his wife. But when he woke, his arms were empty. She was there, close by – he knew that from the waves of desire that reached him from where ever she was. Opening his eyes, he saw Ginny standing in front of the bed. She was completely nude. Backlit by the sun, her hair glowed as though it were fire itself, crowning her head with light as it fell to her waist.

He stood and walked to her side.

She grabbed his cuffed wrist, bringing it up to her breast and squeezing her hand over his own.

"Do you remember the first time you did that?"

He nodded, staring up into her face, trying to focus only on her eyes.

"I was covered in your … cum," she said, the graphic words sounding a little foreign being said with her sweet voice. "And I loved every minute of it." She smiled softly. "I still do," she whispered, moving his hand over her swollen middle down to her groin.

When his fingers touched the wet, soft skin there, he inhaled sharply. She moved his hand over her folds carefully, and she moaned a little when he tried to reach for her center.

"Do you remember the first time you touched me there?" she asked.

He nodded, still staring into her calm, blue eyes. He tried to break his hand free from her grip so that he could touch her properly and make her come, but she merely shook her head and continued guiding her hand over his lightly, at her own pace.

"You gave me so much pleasure that day I wept from it. As did you," she said, bringing his hand up to his mouth. He tasted her on his fingers, moaning at the sweet, familiar flavor. He flexed his hips in response, already wanting to bury himself inside her.

She moved his hand to her arse.

"Do you remember that?" she asked, breathless.

He nodded and tried to catch his breath. Squeezing and kneading the soft skin, he lost himself for a minute and spanked her lightly. Her eyes lit up so brightly at the action that he did it again, feeling his own eyes spark to life.

He remembered that first time, with her bent over the desk before her ruined potion, reading from his old copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions._ The impulse to spank her had come out of nowhere; he'd initially just wanted to humiliate her for her mistakes. Instead of humiliating her and appeasing his frustration with her, they'd both found a different kind of release that day.

For her, it was and continued to be a way to transcend her mind and reach a place of pleasure and peace that nothing else would bring her to.

For him, it started as arousal from her acceptance of his domination of her – a continuation of the dance they began when he dressed her in his clothes at the beginning of that term. He hadn't expected to enjoy it, to crave it. To need it.

He needed it now.

And so did she.

He'd done enough research, asked enough general questions to know that if they were careful, they would be safe. He'd just been afraid before, and now he no longer was.

"Turn around and put your hands of the rail, Mrs. Snape," he said in the silky, soft voice he saved for these occasions.

Her body shook with the desire he felt rippling to him as she turned as did as she was instructed.

The warm, gentle breeze of the ocean air rippled across his naked body, and he was unashamed. He may not be an attractive man to the people he once thought mattered, but he was to the only woman who mattered to him. That knowledge gave him confidence he didn't realize he'd been lacking.

"Spread your legs wider," he commanded, sighing as he saw Ginny immediately respond.

He kissed the back of her neck, trailing his tongue over the soft curve of her shoulder and back up to her ear before he whispered, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sir," she said, her voice quavering in anticipation.

He put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"If anything feels wrong, you immediate tell me to stop. I won't depend on our connection to tell me. One word. What will be?"

"Moon, Sir."

"Ten times. Enjoy each and every one," he said, no longer sure who he was speaking to.

"Please," she said, her voice cracking a little.

He spanked her once, more gently than normal, but enough that he could see the outline of his hand on her skin. The low, dark sound of his sigh met the higher, trilling sound of her own.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir," she said, spreading her legs wider and arching her back in invitation.

He continued, counting to four in his head before he stopped again. He was panting now, as though he had just run from his classroom on the third floor down to the greenhouses behind the castle.

"Still okay?" he asked.

"Please don't stop, Sir," she said, her voice a little too demanding for his taste. He rubbed the pink skin with his hand, teasing her mercilessly.

He leaned low to her ear again and whispered, "All good things to those who wait, Mrs. Snape."

She groaned low in her throat, the sound primal and necessary.

Five more spanks came to her, and it was over. He pulled her into his arms, then moved them to the bed with her sitting in his lap. He praised her, just as he always did when she was so good like she was today, and reminding her of all the reasons he was so in love with her. Kissing her lightly, he summoned what was left of the grapeseed oil and massaged it into the pink skin, enjoying the heat and color he'd produced.

"Are you okay?" he asked in the voice he knew made her weak in the knees.

"Better than ever," she said, sighing as his fingers stroked her skin which had moved to massage her abdomen.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Slept through the whole thing, but she's waking up now," she replied, moving his hand over to a spot just above her navel. He felt the corresponding kick and relaxed even more deeply than he already was.

"Renee," he said softly before looking up at Ginny.

She nodded.

"But not Ginevra, I won't curse another child with my name," she said very seriously. "Eileen. Renee Eileen Cara Snape."

And there was that ridiculous burning again, along with the tears he was becoming accustomed to. "Why Cara?" he asked, willing his voice not to break.

"It means beloved," she said. "She'll be our beloved, reborn light."

He nodded.

It was perfect.

 _A/N: I've got a list of resources as long as my arm and the opinions of several KAPs (kink aware professionals) supporting that the above is genuinely okay, if Ginny had a completely normal, uneventful pregnancy. Let's assume she did. But good gods, don't do anything just because theimpossiblegrrl wrote that it was. Check with your own medical professional.  
One more left to go._


	8. VIII

VIII.

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, June 2012_

They were in their rooms, where was Ginny pacing a circle in the sitting room rug while rubbing her stomach.

"Two weeks late, Severus."

"It's given your Apprentice more time to prepare for –"

" _Two weeks late."_

Ginny patrolled around the dungeons now every night, just as he had done months previously. Except that she was not worried about the birth of their child and motherhood. She was trying to get the process started.

Now.

Severus had to run after her as her petite legs moved her just as quickly as his much longer ones did when she was in the right frame of mind. When Renee's due date came and went with no sign of labor coming, they'd tried every tale they heard from Poppy, Pomona, and Aurora to get the process started. She walked so much around the castle he told her to triple her portions of food so that she wouldn't lose any weight. The food she ate was as spicy as the house elves dared to make, and one night one of the older elves had even given her beet soup, telling her she remembered the school's MediWitch before Poppy had once claimed that it could help.

Nothing happened.

They'd started making love so frequently that Severus had almost thrown out his back, twice, and Ginny had mentioned she was having trouble walking. Not that she was complaining, she'd told him brazenly before shoving him back down to the bed so that she could have her way with him yet again.

Still nothing, other than the two of them walking around the castle with sore muscles and very pleased expressions of their faces.

"Renee Snape," she said sharply, poking her abdomen with the heel of her hand. "It's time for you to make an appearance. Today," she commanded, using the voice Severus had coached her into using her first day of proctoring classes.

"Renee," he said, bringing his hands to Ginny's stomach and lowering his lips as closely to it as he could. "Your mother is ready to meet you, my dear. As am I. Why don't you come and meet us." She squirmed underneath his hands, too out of room to even kick properly now.

Ginny put both of her hands to her back and started to rub the muscles there.

"What's wrong?" he asked, moving his hands along hers and feeling the constricted muscles there.

"I think I overdid the walking today. My back is killing me."

He motioned for her to sit, and he took over the task of trying to work out the knots.

"That's nice," she said, biting her lip suggestively.

"Are you in the mood for more?" he asked.

She shook her head and laughed. "I think I may actually be too tired, although I hate to admit it. I probably need to cut back on the walking so we can up the sex."

"You don't necessarily have to do too much," he said, bringing his hands to her neck and softly caressing her skin.

"It's not going to be much fun if I just lay there," she moaned as his lips met her neck.

"I could make it fun, Mrs. Snape," he whispered in her ear, nipping the lobe softly.

She pretended to consider her answer.

"You win, Sir."

He stood and held a hand out to her to lead her to their bedroom. When she slowly stood and grabbed his hand, he watched a puddle of water appear on the floor beneath her.

He met her eyes, and felt her hand tremble in his.

* * *

Two days later, Severus Snape was sitting in the rocking chair in the library turned nursery next to their bedroom, rocking the sweet baby in his arms.

Her birth had been quick and easy, according to the Healer who had Floo'd in from St. Mungo's to assist in the delivery. Ginny had been amazing. They'd coached each other through the process, in the end. He helped to remind her to breathe and offered her his strength, and she gave him the calm reminder of the new life that lay ahead for both of them. He'd watched in amazement as the little, black haired head emerged from Ginny's body, followed by a tiny, pale body that flailed as soon as she took her first breath. She hadn't cried, that accounted for the only marks taken off the scores they took to measure how well she was doing. It made him scowl. He wanted her to be the best at everything, even as a newborn baby. The Healer only laughed as she placed her at Ginny's breast to suckle her first meal.

He'd watched his wife and child together and felt the burn the back of his eyes as he thanked Merlin that she had her mother's tiny nose.

He looked at his daughter now, seeing her stare back at him with an expression of seeming comprehension far beyond what a two day old baby should possess. Whenever he was in the room, she even sought out his voice as much as she did Ginny's. It made Poppy and Molly shake their heads in amazement, though Ginny understood completely. "She's just been wanting to meet him for a long time," she'd tell her mother whenever Renee's sea blue eyes would search out her father's voice.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" he asked her, seeing that her eyes were beginning to get a little heavy. No answer of course, at least not yet. But he knew she did, just by the way she moved her legs against him now that there were no boundaries separating them.

"Once upon a time, there was a debatably attractive wizard who met a young witch who thought him to be very handsome," he said, laughing at himself. "The pair were bound and married. That much you already know. Several years after their union, they decided to stop using means to avoid getting pregnant. And they waited. And waited. And waited. And nothing happened. So they went through life, knowing that their lives would be still be complete, because they had each other. Then, one day, years later, they found out that a …" he looked at the baby in his arms and cleared his throat, "They found out a miracle happened, and they were very happy. But the wizard was afraid. He'd been keeping secrets from the witch, about how sad his life had really been when he was very young. They went to an island and found each other out all over again. When he told the witch his secrets, she still loved him just as much as she did when she first said the words to him when they were first joined. And the wizard was no longer as afraid as he had been before, because he finally realized that his secrets did not define who he was. Not anymore. Not long after they returned, their beautiful, smart daughter was born, and her first word was Daddy." He looked down at the eyes that had grown very serious. "Daddy. Do you understand?"

Her face, so much like her mother's though framed with his raven black hair, looked up at him with an expression that he decided he would call "adoration", if anyone ever asked him about it.

"You used to go to sleep with a story, sweet one," he said, seeing his words had not worked. "You just ate, and your grandmother changed your nappy," he said, smirking. "What would you like? Do you want me to sing like your mother does? It won't be as pretty, but I'll try."

He thought of a song to sing to her, but couldn't pull up anything other than the Muggle songs from his childhood and teenage years that would be wholly inappropriate. Then he remembered a song he heard while he and Ginny were at a potions conference at the Magical Congress several years back. The center of the American's magical world was in a hot little state called "Louisiana", in a port city filled both Dark and Light Magic. He and Ginny had loved it, taking an interest in the voodoo shops there in order to find rare ingredients for potions and new topics for his Dark Arts classes.

He'd heard the song while waiting in the lobby of Muggle hotel they'd stayed in, waiting for her to dress for dinner. It had been sung by a woman, and the lyrics hadn't meant very much to him at the time. Now, he felt he understood them quite completely.

Severus sang to his beloved little girl in the deep, slightly imperfect voice that his mother had adored and that made his wife swoon whenever she caught him singing while in the shower or shaving.

 _"_ _In my daughter's eyes,  
I am a hero,  
I am strong and wise,  
And I know no fear,  
But the truth is plain to see,  
She was sent to rescue me,  
I see who I want to be,  
In my daughter's eyes_

 _In my daughter's eyes,  
Everyone is equal,  
Darkness turns to light,  
And the world is at peace,  
This miracle God gave to me,  
Gives me strength when I am weak,  
I find reason to believe,  
In my daughter's eyes ..._ _" ***_

He sensed Ginny at the door, but he kept watching their daughter until she closed her eyes and fell asleep, and even then he continued singing until he couldn't remember any more of the words.

He finally looked up at his wife when he felt her at his side, her hand very gentle and calm on his shoulder. She bent down and kissed his lips, then kissed the forehead of the sleeping baby before she carefully extended the rocking chair to give her room to sit with them. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

As did he.

Severus was completely at peace.

 _The End_

 _A/N:_

 _*** Song sung by Martina McBride, music and lyrics by James T. Slater. If you only knew how much country music, which I don't normally listen to despite being in the center of Southern life, went into writing this, you'd pass out if you knew me well. Most of it was the romantic songs of Tim McGraw, especially "It's Your Love" and "When the Stars Go Blue". He just gives me the right feels._

 _I think Healing Waters could be a love song to my children, though I know I'll never let them read it. I wish their father and I could have had that island, and that everything would have been out in the open long ago. It's what made this so hard to write. It hadn't started out being a story about the pain of secrets in a relationship, though that's of course how it ended up. "Write what you know," once said a very foolish writer indeed._

 _It is dedicated to the first three fanfiction authors I ever read, late at night with my own terrible insomnia causing me to google at all hours of the morning. _

_So, Theolyn, Ramos, and Loten, I thank you, so much, for inspiring me to write again._


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